A converged internet protocol messaging (CPM) architecture includes a CPM client device, a message storage client device, a message storage server (MSS), and a CPM participating/controlling function server. The CPM client device handles all real-time communication such as session based messaging, page mode messaging and user preference setting. The CPM server is an application server that maintains services such as one-one session, group session, page mode session, file transfer, and multi-device handling.
The message storage server stores CPM user level messages using an internet message access protocol (IMAP). The CPM participating/controlling function server stores the CPM user level messages into the message storage server based on instructions from the CPM users using the IMAP. The message storage client device manages the message storage server of the CPM user using the IMAP.